Okay, So last week I told people to send me their music so I could review it. This is after years of getting unwanted demo’s sent to me that I made a point of never listening to. Within 2 hours I had over 60 submissions. Depending how you look at it, this is either a great or terrible thing. But, hey, this blog always needs content so why not sacrifice some of my sanity for the betterment of this site. The rules were simple. Send one song, with your name and song title on it, in an email titled “Demo Review”. You’d be amazed how many people failed at this but it’s the internet and some people are beyond stupid, so it’s to be expected. To those people, I’m afraid you didn’t make the cut (but honestly, you might be the lucky ones). I’d also like to add that I found it funny that so many people were thanking me for the opportunity. I understand you guys want insights on your music ( Insights that I may or may not give in these little reviews) but just know that the best possible thing that will come out of this for you (as artists) is a few thousand people hear your music and I don’t tell you it sucks. I’m not going to go out of my way to hate on things. I’m a fair person. But I’m also not trying to stroke your ego’s.
I’d also like to add a “No hard feelings” clause to this. If I hear your music and am dismissive of it, know it’s not personal. I don’t know you. This is just my opinion. And really, who am I? I’m just some fucking guy who makes music that involves no musical training. So, seriously, don’t take what I say to deeply to heart. Okay…so, now that that’s covered…let’s get into the first batch of demos.
I’ll do a brief write up of each song then rank them by three categories.
Originality: Obviously rating how much this differs from other music out there in a positive way. I’ll be shocked if anyone gets above a 5 out of 10 as this is a pretty tough category.
Listenability: Rating how hard/easy it was to sit through. This could go a few ways as I often find humor in music that’s extra bad so, it’s not always a compliment.
Production technique: Rating how well crafted the song was. Was it “professional”. How was it recorded and mixed.

Oh, and I’m not accepting any more submissions currently. If this goes well, I may reopen to the gates but for now I’ve got enough to last me a long time.

Artist: Gee Wiz
Song: Lady

http://geewiz.bandcamp.com/track/lady-wiz

That sounds to me like a beat someone should be rapping on. It’s pretty repetitive (and not in a “everything in hip hop is repetitive” kinda way). I’ve never been a fan of beats that are too stabby and that one was just that. It wasn’t that bad though. Definitely a fan of Dilla. But, I think at this point, it’s safe to say we’ve all heard this kinda thing before.

Originality: 3 out of 10
Listenability: 4 out of 10
production technique: 5 out of ten

Artist Name: Bobby Phisher
Song: Bottom Out

http://bobbyphisher.bandcamp.com/track/bottom-out-prod-last-triumph-dj-snuggles

Is this like ghoul rap? I can’t front, I was kinda laughing when the rapping started. Not that dude was off beat or anything but that voice is fucking ridiculous. It was like “I have a cold, but I’m also stalking you in the dark with a pick axe (lyrically)”. Who is this kinda song for? People who think juggalo’s are dipshits but still kinda wanna live that lifestyle?
The production is kinda interesting, if not really my flavor, but interesting nonetheless.

Originality: 4 out of 10
Listenability: 4 out of 10
Production technique: 6 out of 10

Artist: Suplington
Song: Invisible Imagination

http://soundcloud.com/suplington/invisible-imagination-1

That was pretty boring. I like the little vocal sample that popped in every now and then but, if you’re going to make a five minute song , you should probably mix it up a bit. After a while, that repetitive note becomes tiresome. Definitely sounds like something I’d hear in a sushi restaurant (which isn’t saying much as my music gets played in those places all the time). I wasn’t crazy about the drums but, overall, this was very inoffensive background music.

Originality: 3.5 out of 10
Listenability:5 out of 10
Production technique: 5.5 out of ten

Artist:Atari Blitzkrieg
Song:Think Twice (Krohme’s Sld Rnnr RMX) feat. Rapper Pooh, Motion Man and Breez Evahflowin’

http://atariblitzkrieg.bandcamp.com/track/think-twice-krohmes-sld-rnnr-rmx-feat-rapper-pooh-motion-man-and-breez-evahflowin

I gotta say, I kinda liked that. The beat was dope. The subtle changes during the verses worked really well. Motion Man pretty much ran away with that one. His verse was very good. The other two dudes weren’t terrible but also got a little shakey at times and couldn’t really match the intensity of the track. Was Breeze just on the hook? Shoulda given him a verse, yo. This was decent, typical, underground rap with a great verse by Motion Man.

Originality: 4.5 out of 10
Listenability: 7 out of 10
Production Technique: 6.5 out of 10

Artist: BDeep
Song: Ginger Deuce

http://www.hulkshare.com/embed_mp3.php?fn=rzht75z1of8y&bg=000000&fg=71C90C

This is obviously a jokey song. That said, I’ve made jokey songs…and this shit just wasn’t very funny. Really? A whole song about a ginger shit? I appreciate the lack of seriousness but I’m pretty sure this is the type of thing that you guys play for your friends and they feign laughter while waiting for it to end. The little Rihanna part toward the end got a smile out of me though.

Originality: 5 out 10
Listenability: 2 out of 10
Production technique: 2 out of 10

Artist:CYBORGANICS
Song: READ WHILE BLUE
http://soundcloud.com/cyborganics/new-track-1st-read-demo

Hmm…The rapper is technically okay but has the curse of “white voice”. I feel your pain brother, I did too when I rapped.
Beatwise, it’s synthetically Jazzy and sounds pretty amateur. And the piano layer that comes in over the hook is a little out of tune (which is probably my biggest peeve when it comes to beats). This sounds to me like someone who’s just starting out on production working with a rapper who’s been rapping for a while. That said, this is definitely one of those “don’t quit your day job” kinda rappers. Not bad just nothing at all that separates him from every other white kids who grew up loving def jux and rhymesayers.

Originality: 4 out of 10
Listenability: 4.5 out of 10
Production technique:3 out of 10

Name: First L
Song Name: Life

http://soundcloud.com/first_l/first-l-life

This is definitely the case of a dude who smoked a ton of weed , made a beat high and then called it a day. As we all know, music sounds better when you’re high. I bet this didn’t feel like an extremely repetitive yet meandering song (how is that even possible?) when it was being made, but I’m afraid that was the result. That said, shit like this is made for the purpose of playing in the background while people are high as fuck. So, in a way, it succeeded.

Originality: 3 out of 10
Listenability: 3.5 out of 10
Production technique: 4 out of 10

Artist name: The Mad Baron & Mr. Jaws
Song name: The Lush

http://soundcloud.com/the-great-red-shark/the-lush-v3-prtl

Definitely some funny/decent lines in this one. The rapper isn’t trying too hard, which is nice. Again, the curse of “White voice” is definitely in effect here though.
The beat I was not feeling. Maybe it’s a style issue but it just sounded like a mess to me. From the drums to the synth sounds. I can’t really tell if it’s supposed to sound like that cause that’s what the producer was going for of if it sounds like that cause it’s amateur. It basically sounded like a bad Tyler the Creator beat.

Originality: 5 out of 10
Listenability: 4.5 out of 10
Production technique: 3.5 out of 10

Artist: A-Merk
Song: undergorund

http://soundcloud.com/a-merk/underground

This person wrote me this message with the song:
“Hey, I think this is a really cool idea! I legit JUST started rapping and making music about a month ago. This is one song off of an album I made and plan to put out on the web… I’d be interested to hear what you think. (beat/writing is original)”

So, yeah…Obviously, this is EXTREMELY newbie shit. Admittedly so. I will say this, it is far to early for an artist like this to be putting your music out into the ether. It is not ready. He is not ready. Keep working at it and see what happens but putting out stuff like this not gonna help anyone in the long run..He needs to plug away and refine his skills. It not only sounds like he’s never rapped before, but like he’s never really listened to much rap to begin with. Making music is a process of working from the ground up. Just cause you have recording equipment, a beat and a rhyme doesn’t mean it’s ready for prime time. I’m not saying this to be mean..but really I’m saying it to all bedroom producers out there starting out. You should be a AT LEAST a year deep before you let anyone outside you immediate circle hear your music. Trust me.

Originality: 3 out of 10
Listenability: 2 out of 10
Production technique: 3 out of 10

Here’s where you let me know which one you thought was the best: